Wish He Was Having an Affair
by JensonBensen
Summary: When Shawn comes back from his month long trip to Asia, he immediately goes to visit his friends, but soon realizes that there seems to be something wrong with his two favorite people in the world. NO SLASH! Cory-Topanga and Shawn


_**Summary: Shawn comes back to New York after a trip in Asia and finds that not all is right at home.**_

_**Disclaimer: FANfiction…. **_

"Shawn!" Topanga shouted as she hugged one of her oldest friends.

"Topanga!" he said, matching her enthusiasm. She welcomed him into the apartment she shared with Shawn's best friend and, coincidently, her husband, Cory Matthews. Following social protocol, she offered him a drink, he politely declined, and then they sat down on the yellow couch that had one resided in the formerly miserable dorm room that Topanga and Cory had once shared.

"So," she said after some time, "How was Asia? Exciting? I mean how could it not be exciting?"

"It was absolutely amazing actually, there's just something about eastern culture that's absolutely fascinating."

"This from the guy who tried to run a way to Paris via a greyhound!" they both laughed as they thought about high school, both letting memories guide the rest of the conversation.

After they had their fill of nostalgia, they sat awkwardly for a few minutes until Shawn finally said, "So I've got to admit, I'm a little confused as to why I haven't been ambushed by Cory yet. Where is he anyway?"

Topanga looked down at her lap and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. When she looked up at him, Shawn noticed a momentary look of pain in her eyes, but it vanished a few seconds later. "He… Well he said there was an urgent work problem. I think he might have forgotten you were coming back today… that or he thought it could be resolved quickly… I don't know really. We were just sitting around having a nice time watching T.V. and then his phone rang… I'm sure he'll be back soon, though."

"Of course," has he said it, he knew it was only out of a need to appease her. He was upset to see such a desperate look in her eyes, even more so to think that his best friend was the cause of it. He ended up leaving about twenty minutes later, though the uneasiness never went away. As he found himself walking back on the streets of New York, a city as familiar to him as Philadelphia had once been, he grew increasingly anxious. Cory was not the sort of person to ignore friends or family for the sake of work, in fact, there was a certain consensus that, should Topanga and Cory decide to start having kids, there was a very good chance Cory would end up forgoing a career for the children. It was often joked about when the three got together, even more so when, on those frequently less occurring occasions, either Jack, Eric, Rachel, or Angela were available to tag along.

This train of thought led Shawn to a rather unpleasant place, for their seemed few explanations for his friends behavior that were in the least bit comforting. The first was that perhaps Cory had changed during the month Shawn had been in Asia. This seemed unlikely though, as it was much too short a time for a man like Cory, one so resistant to change, to have undergone such a transformation. This really only left one other possibility, he had lied to Topanga about where he was going this afternoon. What was worse, judging by the look on her face earlier, this didn't seem to have been the first time it had happened.

If it had been anyone else besides Cory, any couple besides the Matthews (either generation, really) he might have been tempted to jump to the obvious conclusion: an affair. As it stands, it was Cory, so he immediately wiped that thought form his mind. Unfortunately, as he visited some of his other friends or got coffee at his favorite café near his apartment, it kept coming back. He just couldn't get the idea out of his head, no matter how much logic he implemented. No matter how many times he told himself that Cory would never do that to Topanga. No matter how many times he reminded himself that those two had been effectively engaged since they were five years old.

After wandering for about another hour, Shawn finally arrived at his apartment building. He looked up at the fifteen story building, but drew no comfort from its familiarity. He couldn't escape the feeling that his world was dangerously close to teetering off an edge. He ran a hand through his hair as he entered into the lobby. With each step he took he got more and more nervous. It was so bad that when the elevator's bell rang to announce its arrival, he actually jumped, causing him to laugh shakily at his paranoia. After what seemed like an endless amount of time, he finally got to his floor and stepped out of the elevator.

Taking small, cautious steps he arrived at his door only to stop in surprise because there, sitting against the wall on the dingy floor next to his door, was his missing friend Cory. "Cory? What are you doing here?"

Cory turned to his friend and smiled, "Shawn! I was wondering when you were going to get here! I got to tell you, I was starting to get a little worried." He ended with a chuckle and held his hand out for Shawn to help him up. After a moment of hesitation Shawn walked over to him and after Cory was standing, they shared a hug.

For the next couple of hours the two men talked over the last month, both glad to know that no matter how old they got, their friendship was much the same as it had been when they were kids at John Adams. Despite the happiness that Shawn felt as seeing his friend, he couldn't help notice that there did indeed seem to be something wrong with Cory. Something in the way he sounded when he spoke about Topanga and even in the way he was holding himself.

Finally, after Shawn realized he couldn't take it any longer, he gently asked, "Is everything alright with you and Topanga?" Shawn watched Cory's entire face fall, deriving little comfort this response.

"Of course, Shawny," he replied, though his voice lacked confidence.

"Cory, come on, you can tell me the truth."

"Really, Shawn," he enunciated every syllable, "there is nothing wrong with my marriage."

"Are you sure Topanga feels the same?"

"I… Wait what have you heard… Did she say anything?"

"No, it was just… Well when I was at your apartment earlier today… There just seemed to be something about the way she… I don't know, but seriously Cory, you can tell me."

Cory looked at Shawn for a moment before putting his head in his hands. He was about to say something when Shawn cut him off, "Cory are you having an affair?"

"What?" Cory asked with a laugh.

"Look, Cory just be straight with me. No jokes. Whatever you tell me, I'll believe."

Cory sat up and looked directly at Shawn. "Shawn I'm not having an affair," he paused and got an out-of-focus look in his eyes.

"Cory, you're scaring me. What's wrong?"

"Shawn I'm sick."

"Sick? How sick?"

Again Cory turned to look Shawn in the eye and said, "Really sick."

For the first time that day, Shawn kind of wished Cory was having an affair.

**This was just something floating around in my head after I saw the episode where we find out that Mr. Lawrence had an affair… I wanted to create a situation in which people might believe that Cory was cheating on Topanga, but, OF COURSE, we know he would NEVER do that! I may or may not continue this one…**


End file.
